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IE ADMINISTRATION AND ITS ASSAILANTS. 



SPEECH 



HOI. EDWARD McPHERSON, 



OF PENNSYLVANIA, 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 5, 1862. 



The House being in Committee of the Whole on the 
State of the Union — 

Mr. Mcpherson, of Pennsylvania, said: 
Mr. Chairman: If I know tlie chief and 
cherished purposes of the gentleman from 
Indiana, [Mr. Vooiihees,] and the gentleman 
from Ohio, [Mr.VALLAXDiGHAJi,] and have dis- 
cerned the spirit which pervades the speeches 
of the former and the address of the caucus of 
the unhappy fourteen,* drafted by the latter, 
they are to undermine the confidence of the j^eo- 
ple in the President and his administration, 
and to persuade, or cajole, or frighten them 
from a firm, cordial, and immovable support of 
his coercive war policy to the suppression of 
rebellion, the subjugation of rebels, and the 
restoration of the authority of the Govern- 
ment over every acre of Its soil. I understand 
them to seek to eflFect this purpose by assail- 
ing the general conduct of affairs ; by charging 
extravagance, recklessness, and corruption 
upon the administration ; by predicting the 
early bankruptcy of the Government, and by 
inflaming the public with unfounded aud ex- 
aggerated assertions, and absurd and unsound 
predictions. I understand them further, while 
lamenting the present condition of the country, 
and foreshadowing a darker future, to offer 
to the people one ray of hope, assuring them 
that the only escape from present and pros- 
pective calamities is in the elevation to power 
of a new political party which they are form- 
ing, of which they are, if not the architects, 
the master-spirits, and which they commend 
as an infallible panacea. 

THE NATURE OF THE ATTACKS. 

Mr. Chairman, I accept the controversy 



* Since the Address was first printed, the name of 
Hon. A'ehemiah Perry, of Xew Jersey, has been added, 
making the number of eigners fifteen. 



tendered by these gentlemen. I defend the 
President and his acts. I deny the charges 
of extravagance and corruption. I repel the 
prediction of impending or actual bankruptcy. 
1 1 scout the ridiculous estimates upon which 
I these charges are based; and I reprobate as 
unwise, unnecessary, and unwarranted, the 
[ organization of a new party, based on opposi- 
tion to the President and his policy, while I 
condemn the spirit of the movement, and pro- 
nounce its declared principles enfeebling and 
I destroying. I claim for the administration that 
it is not only worthy of, but is justly entitled 
to, the unreserved and generous confidence of 
the people, and of every man of the people, 
j who is devoted to the preservation and per- 
I petuation of the Union as the greatest politi- 
j ca! good, without which all other interests, 
j rights, and possessions are comparatively 
I valueless. 

THEIR UNFITNESS AT THIS PERIOD. 

[ Sir, I do not wonder that the gentlemen 
referred to, realize that their self-appointed 
task is as ungracious as it is hopeless. No 

I rotundity of speech ; no pompous or repeated 
protestations of pure, and lofty, and unselfish 

! purpose ; no self-delusions, can drive from 
the public the conviction that such a work, at 
such a time, is in the highest degree unfit, un- 
welcome, and unworthy. They are themselvea 
not insensible to these considerations, for, 
feeling them, they both seek to justify their 
course by arguing that it does not involve in- 
fidelity to their Government, and by broadly 
asserting that, in a certain sense, they will sus- 
tain it against all foes at home or abroad. 
" /;i a certain sense .'" What a world of mean- 
ing is comprehended in this qualifying clause. 
How suggestive of danger to those engaged — 
of warning to those sought to be enticed. 
Mr. Chairman, I will not trust myself to 






discuss the motives of gentlemen. It does not 
become this place to cast, or attempt to cast, 
ft !<ll^^picion upon any one's loyalty, or a stain 
upon any one's patriotism. Least of all should 
I ibus assail a member of the American Con- 
gress, of whom, the suspicion of even a ishade 
of disloyalty, is an imputation of guiltiness 
equal to any and every crime. But in times 
of great public danger, vfhen savage foes have 
banded for the overthrow of the Government, 
the extinction of American nationality, and 
the degradation of free .nsititutions, and when 
armed hosts, inllamed with hate, pos.scssed 
by demoniac passions, and brutalized by sla 
very, are pointing their gleaming bayonets at 
the nation's heart, and cleaving down the 
sons of our priile, is it not, to s-ty the least, 
inopportune, that tliose whose great, respon- 
sibility it is to meet these grave events, and 
save our matchless institutions, must with- 
draw themselves from these duties to protect 
their reputation from the fierce warfare of 
partisan nmliguity ? Cut the friends of this 
administration make no pleas, and seek to 
escape no responsibility. They are willing to 
meet its enemies, at all times, on all points, 
and as firmly and courageously as they have 
met the armed enemies of the country. And 
they will bury both in the common, dishon- 
ored grave which the people will dig. 
Now to the charges. 

THE SIZE OF THE DEBT. 

Firit. It is asserted that the national debt 
is already one thousand millions. The sub- 
joined official statement of the Secretary of 
the Treasury, sent to this Ifouse, eiiows that 
it was as follows on the 29th May, 18G2: 

Cntler what act. Haif i\f Amo\i\*. TSAoL 

inUral. 

L..BDII1S42 6 $2.RS.'?,.'?«4 n 

htainx 1847 8 0.41(>,-J50 00 

Loans ]S48 (i R.90S.341 80 

Loans is.'.8 5 I'O.ooo.ooo 00 

Loan* lb«0 6 7,o:>2,uo0 00 

Loann 1861 6 ]R.41.').000 00 

TeianiDdaninity. & 3,4iU,uuu 00 

$70,104,0i5 91 

Tre.mury noted i«- 

Biii-d prior to 

1S.'>', int49reflt 

"toppcJ 105,111 04 

rn.lcractDec.SS, 

1H&7, iDtereat 

dopp-vJ 17.'.,90O 00 

Cn'ItT act Dec. 17, 

ISOO, iDtaroR . 

itoppwl 221,660 00 

Undrr acta Jnoa 

I'i 18»i<), i»ii.l 

r-^\>. aod .Mur. 

l***! 2,707,900 00 

t'nilcrartiiMar. V!. 
I July 17, niid 

I Aug. b, ISf.l lll.tVH) 00 

I .1,382,181 04 

■ Tlireo yaara* 73 

m t-.mU 7 3-10 12U,i3;i.40O 00 

^ Twrnijr joam* 

■ lx>iula. .'in.OOO.OOO 00 

■ 170,f.23.4.SO <>() 

^B OrrKon war rfrtit. C h7K 4.'>ii 0<i , 

^H L<°.H.DOte»,iiuint. 145,8811,000 W | 

I 



I Cndrr what act. Jtate of 
iulerest. 
Certificatca of iii- 

«lcl>todiie«H 6 

5-20 yrg. Iwnds.... 

I 4 por cent, tempo- 

I rary loan 4 

j 6 percent. tempo- 
: rary loan 6 



47,199,000 00 
2,«I9,400 00 



49,898,400 GO 



6,913,042 21 
44,805,524 35 



Total amount of publie debt $491,448,984 11 

I Avernpe ratu ot interest paid on the entire debt is 
4 ;i54-100UthB per annum. 

I Of the debt, §74,253,967 55 are a legacy 
' from IJuchauan ; that due to the war is 
$41 7,1 '.'5,010 56. 

The gentleman from Indiana [IMr. VooR- 
iiEEs] fixed the sum at $l,0'.'5,00U,(i00, which 
he arrived at in this way: Having heard the 
chairman of the Ways and Means [Mr. Ste- 
, VEKs] say during the winter that our daily 
expenses were then .S3.000,00l), he afsianed 
I that they had been !ii:),OU(),000 per day for 
the whole of the past year, and that, hence, 
I the debt at present is $l,0D5,()0(l,(l(){), or 365 
I times $3,l)((i),nnu. Having by this assumptive 
process created an immense debt, he, with 
refreshing confidence in his arithmetic, added 
the comprehensive remark, that "no intelli- 
gent and candid person" will deny that our 
indebtedness at this moment is equal'to that 
vast sum. The gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. 
Vai.l.\xi)ioii.\.m,] in lys addresi, contents 
I himself with the niikcd assertion, not giving 
i any evidence or decrying those who deny it. 
In truth, they are both wrong on this im- 
portant point, over five hundred millions of 
J ilollars. The gentleman from Indiana plumes 
himself on the discovery that the Secretary of 
the Treasury was mistaken about $25,000,000 
in his estimate of the revenue from duties the 
current fiscal year. Wherein has he the ad- 
vantage of the Secretary ? At most, the Sec- 
retary erred twenty-five millions in nn esti- 
mate of an uncertain trade at a most unset- 
tled period. The gentleman from Indiana, 
who cannot excuse this, erred to the extent 
of five hundred millions in the statement of 
an ascertained fact. 



THE DKUT A TKAU HENCE. 

Sfrond. It is further asserted that our debt 
one year hence, if the war should continue, 
will be two thousand millions. This estimate 
is based upon the oilier estimate, that the 
Governnipnt will spend, the whole of the next 
year, at I he average rate of $:'>,(I()II,()(I0 per 
day. This is an egregious blunder. The 
average daily expenditure in the War and 
N.'ivy Departments is less than one million of 
dollars, and the averago daily expenditure in 
all branches of the Government is a shade 
over one million. So that, upon the basis of 
present operations, the public debt, one year 
licncc, will not csceod $1,000,000,000, show- 



^^^ 



ing an error in this statement, of the gentle- 
man from ludiaaa, of one thousand uiillious. 
He proceeds upon the false assuuiptiou that 
"we now are, and will henceforth spend three 
millions daily. The gentleman from Ohio, 
[Mr. VAl,L.\^'DIG^IASI,] in his address, says 
the "daily expenditures are at the rate of 
four millions of dollars." The difference be- 
tween these two false prophets is about the 
true sum. 

This point is settled by the official state- 
ment of the Secretary of the Treasury, and 
the well-ascertained average daily expendi- 
ture as shown oq the books of the Treasury. 
As to the probable umoimt of debt a year 
hence, there is another metliod of reaching it, 
viz: by consulting the appropriations asked 
by the various departments for the operations 
of tbe fiscal year just closing, as well as that 
soon to commence. These figures have been 
furnished by the gentleman from Vermont, 
[Mr. Morrill,] and are to this effect: 
The appropriations for the fiscal year entl- 

iag June ."0, 1862, were $586,000,000 

The appropriations for the fiscal year end- 
ing June 30, 1863 544.082,000 

Total appropriations for the two fiscal year.s$l,130,OS2,OUO 
That is, if all tlie money estimated for and 
appropriated shall be expended, the public 
'indebtedness will be, by June ?,'■), 18G3, 
should the war be continued on the pre- 
sent basis, eleven hundred and thirty mil- 
lions ; in which event the amount will be eight 
hundred and seventy millions less than the 
prediction of the gentleman from Indiana. 
In his apparent anxiety to swell the sum, and 
sustain his estimates, he supposes that, owing 
to the increased expenses of transportation, 
growing out of an invasion of the enemy's 
country, our expenditures will be propor- 
tionately heavier next year than this, forget- 
ting that our army is now supplied with arms, 
equipments, tents, and all the materiel of war, 
which need not be soon replaced, and that the 
(Cost of recruiting, organizing, preparing, and 
bringing this large army into the field, need 
not be repeated, both which causes will greatly 
diminish expenses. Besides, he is in error 
in supposing that we cannot subsist the army 
to any extent on the enemy. They cannot, if 
they would, destroy everything. Already 
we have successfully subsisted portions of the 
army in that way, and it can be continued, at 
least to some extent. General Scott pursued 
a flying enemy, and from the time he left 
Jalapa in Mexico he laid the country under 
contribution for subsistence. Why cannot we 
in the rebellious region? 

CHARGE OF " FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT." 

Third. The gentleman from Indiana creates 
alarming figures by comparing the debt, at 
his figures, with the assessed value of the real 
and personal property of the country, as 
shown by the census of 1860, forgetting that 



these assessments are, on nn average, one-half 
under the market value; that his statement of 
the amount of the public debt is double the 
actual indebtedness, and that our annual pro- 
ductions would support a debt of four thou- 
sand millions ($4,000,000,000) without invol- 
ving as heavy taxation as exists in England. 
Our debt a year hence will scarcely exceed 
one-fourth of the ready capacity of the people 
to bear. In this connection the gentleman 
from Indiana charges that the debt is due to 
" the financial mismanagement and fraud of 
the party in power," and he grows pensive 
over the minute and careful calculation that 
every sixth ox, every sixth horse, every sixth 
sheep, and every sixth hog, in all his district, 
is doomed, in cold blood, to be charmed, be- 
slimed, and swallo\^d by the horrid monster 
begotten by this war ! 

But what is meant by " financial misman- 
agement?" AVberein has it occurred, and by 
whom? Is it in the amount borrowed? I 
have shown, it is one-half less than he as- 
serted, and a mere trifle compared with the 
re.sources of the country. Is it in the rate at 
which it was borrowed ? Why, Buchanan bor- 
rowed at from 12 to 36 per cent, in time of 
peace ; this administration has not paid over 
7.o() per cent, for any, has paid 6 for part, is 
paying 5 and even 4, and, including the cir- 
culation it has furnished, constituting the 
best currency we have ever had, the average 
rate of interest on the whole debt is a little 
below A\ per cent. Is it in the persons from 
whom borrowed? The patriotic banks were 
first approached, and after them the people 
rushed forward, and the bonds are all held at 
home, and \^ all classes of society, and are in 
active demand above par. Is it disagreeable 
to the gentleman that this debt is held at 
home, that the Government is thereby 
strengthened, and the world convinced of our 
ability to wage the war, and our determina- 
tion to achieve success ? Was it " financial 
mismanagement" in the Secretary to husband 
the resources of the Government, uphold its 
credit, protect its securities, and guard the 
Treasury at every point? Or should Mr. 
Chase have imitated the devices of Cobb, who 
studiously depreciated the public securities, 
undermined the public credit, and then threw 
the bonds on the market to bring what they 
might amid the fangs of sharpers? Unjust, 
intolerable, and atrocious as were many parts 
of the speech of the gentleman from Indiana, 
that was the most inexplicable and unnatural 
which ignored the patient care, clear intelli- 
gence, and anxious fidelity of the able and 
sagacious head of the Treasury, one of the 
wise and pure men of the West. I can un- 
derstand why the wondrously successful con- 
duct of our finances, the sinews of our war, 
has called forth wailing from the London 
Times and the money-changers of England, 
and groans from disappointed and malicious 
haters of the Government, both in and beyond 



the loyal States, j-ct 1 cannot hut think that, 
while in this protjlem lay the (pie^tion of the 
determination of the contest, its happy solu- 
tion deserveil to he, as it w:is, the occasion 
of heartfelt and Rcneral rejoicing and con- 
Ifraiulation among the earnest men of the 
country. The two leaders of the proposed 
new party, raising a disconlant sound, call 
even tiiis great success mitmanigemfnt. Surely 
their perceptions ar* wholly perverted, though 
their hearts may he devoted to the Govern- 
ment, as they claim, "in a certain sense." 

COMP.\niSOS OF EXI'EXSES WITH MEXICAN WAR. 

Fourth. The gentleman from Indiana fur- 
ther declares — with emphabis and particular- 
ity, that— • 

"The Mexican war, though » foreittn ftDil distant one- 
in which wo paid the .«ohlier subAtaDtially the Fame that 
we pay liiin now, cost tliin Government, under the wise 
and hone.«t admini^traliou of Jaiuen K. I'olk, in propor- 
tion to the number ■.I' men eii^aj;el, man for man, but 
little more tlmn one fourth the amount now being ex- 
pended on a war wa^ei at our very door-steps." 

This is a most extraordinary statement, and I 
as indefensible as extraordinary. Leaving i 
out of view the uiiquiilitied endorsement of i 
Mr. Polk's adaiiaistration, who.se policy, to ' 
eay the least, initiated the pres^^nt complica- 1 
tions of the country, and witiiout which it i 
might have for many years avoided, if not I 
wholly escape'], the present rebellion; and 
overlooking the allusiou to the .Mexican war, ! 
the waging of whicli I have for years believed, 
and now more firmly than ever, was prompted 
hy men who then had in view the develO[)inent, ' 
t/iroufh it, of the infernal conspu-acy which 
has lately burst upon us, and whose cold sa- [ 
gacity but too accurately measured the influ- 
ences then and thus made active, I meet the 
substantive assertions of the proposition with 
a flat denial. 

Let ua see how the case stands. 



niFFEKEN-CIC OF T.VY. 

In comparing the two wars, the gentleman 
from Indiana states that "we then paid the 
soldier substautialiy the same that we now 
pay him." This is matter of history, and 
easily tested. What is the fact? Th^n we 
pail infantry seven dollars per month, and 
cavalry eight. X',w we pay infantry thirteen 
dollars per month, and cavalry fourteen. Since 
that time, the pay of commiHsioncdofllcers has 
been increaseii twenty dollars per month, and 
ten cents lias^ been addcl to the commutation- 
value of the ration — making an avoruge in- 
crease of the compensation of otncers, of be- 
tween twenty and twenty five per cent. We 
also, at the extra session of July last, changed 
the soldier's ration, and increased its ost 
about one fourth. When, in view of such facts, 
the gentleman from Indiana said the pay now 
in tu'iilaitlt'jlly vhiil it was then, did he merely 
illuBlrato his idea of <' •ii>„i,niii.il samrnns," 



of which we have had several like illustrations, 
and will have more, or did he speak rashly, 
Hweepingly, and, as in other cases, in ignorance 
or disregard of the truth ? 

! OTHER IMPOnTA.VT CONSIDllEATIOXS. 

There are several other manifest considera- 
tions which enter into this comparison made 
by the gentleman from Indiana, but to which 
I he has wholly neglected to allude or give men- 
' tion. When the Mexican war broke out, the 
I Governmt'nt had ou hand immense supplies of 
' guns, small arms, and all muiritions of war — 
' the accumulation of years of peace. When 
' this rebellion broke out, the Government was 
bare of everything necessary to make war. 
In the Pensacola and Norfolk Navy Yards it 
lost its largest collections of heavy guns. In 
the arsenals and forts located in the disloyal 
States, to which Floyd had removed many 
thousands of the best patterns of muskets and 
rifles, the rebels found, whilst the Government 
lost, vast stores of the greatest value; and 
Government was compelled to abandon and 
destroy its largest armory to prevent its fall- 
ing into the hands of the enemy. As a conse- 
quence. Government was wholly unprepared 
to fill the demands of the occasion. It could 
not quickly equip and arm the hundreds of 
thousands who were ready to flock to it.s stand- 
ards; and itwas forced into European markets 
to supply itself with articles of prime necessity. 
Foreign manufacturers, taking advantage of 
our necessities, controlled prices to their great 
benefit; and, further to cripple, unfriendly 
governments interposed to embarrass and delay 
the shipment of our purchases. This great 
Army was literally created, and the urgency 
of the circumstances and our defenceless con- 
dition subjected us to every sort of annoyance 
and imposition. But for all this, the admin- 
istration of President Lincoln is in no wise 
responsible. And it lies not in the mouth of 
the gentleman from Indiana to rebuke it, if in 
recovering itself from the slough in which 
Buchanan's base administration left the Gov- 
<5rnment, heavy expenses were incurred, mis- 
takes maile, or even frauds committed. All 
these things were more or less inevitable from 
the condition of the country. The gentleman 
from Indianaintimates that his political friends 
would have conducted the Government more 
honestly and economically. 1 think their past 
history does not at all justify this flattering 
opinion: ami I know that some of the frauds 
of which the gentleman has complained, and 
some smaller ones of which he does not par- 
ticularly speak, were perpetrated, or attempted 
to Vie perpetrated, by persons of his political 
faith. Those who remember the Buchanan 
administration and its horrid malpractices, will 
not regret that its friends are now out of 
power — whether reference be had to the safety 
of the treasury, or, what is even more impor- 
tant, their doubtful and halting fidelity to tho 
great duties of the hour. But, in addition to 



^<^7 



the facts previously mentioned, it must bo re- 
membered that many of the oldest and most 
skillful and valuable heads of bureaus resigned 
and went South, and new men occupied their 
places, to struggle with all the rii^ks accruing 
upon heavy responsibility suddenly devolved. 
If the country sutfered from this cause, this 
Administration is not respon-iible — rather 
those Administrations which nursed traitors 
in high places, which systematically excluded 
true men from posts of honor and importance, 
and which thus trained men under the Gov- 
ernment, into an efficiency which fitted them 
to strike the heaviest blows and intlict the 
deepest wounds. 

THE ACTUAL FIGURES. 

But, coming to the distinct allegation, I deny 
that the proportionate expenses per man were, i 
during the Mexican war, little more than one- [ 
fourth the amount now expended per man. I ! 
can find no warrant for this statement, but the j 
reverse. I take as the test, the year of greatest 
activity — that which witnessed the capture of! 
the' city of Mexico, and all its antecedent vic- 
tories. If the gentleman will examine the 
war report of Mr. Marcy, dated December '2, 
1847, (Ex. Doc, 1st sess., 30th Cong., 2d vol., 
p. 45), he will find the strength of the Army 
thus stated : 

I^egulars 21,509 

Volunteers 22,027 



The expenditures for the year ending June 
30, 1847, are stated in the documents accom- 
panying the President's Message of December, 
1847, to have been 

Army proper ! $17,880,842 91 

Mexican hostilities 16,01)1,226 42 

Armories, Arsenals, and Jlunitions of war, 1,617,216 28 

$35,499,285 61 
Or, to state it differently, the expenses of the 
Army from April 1, 1847, to April 1, 1848, j 
as subsequently shown by Secretary of the 
Treasury Meredith, {Ex. Doc, 1st sess., 31st 
Congress, 2d vol.,) were $34,981,160 55; 

The average annual expense per man was 
thus $815 40, although General Scott sub- 
sisted on the enemy beyond Jajapa. The 
average monthly expense per man was $G7 95. 
From October 1, 1861, to May 22, 1862, a 
period of about eight months, the expendi- 
tures of the AVar Department, as shown by the 
gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. Dawes), 
were .$305,118,208, at the average rate of 
$38,114,776 per month. Upon the basis of 
having had 575,000 men under pay for that 
entire period, the average monthly expense per 
man has been $66 28. If we estimate the 
number at 500,000, the average monthly ex- 
pense per man rises to $76 23. Instead of 
the comparison being favorable to our Mexi- 
can experience, it is the reverse ; and we have 
a general result which, notwithstanding the 



peculiar embarrassments of the Government 
and the unprecedented nakedness of every 
form of supplies, is the best and most satisfac- 
tory evidence of the fidelity, integrity, and 
prudence with which the public interests have 
I been guarded. All this, too, although the 
i wider field of our operations and greater ac- 
1 tivity of our armies add to the necessary ex- 
penditures an indefinite but considerable per- 
> centage. War is, of course, expensive ; and 
j in the multiplicity of officials and tOe nature 
of their business, there will doubtless be some 
infidelity ; but 1 believe the present manage- 
ment is securing as rigid accountability and 
faithtul expenditure as can be expected or la 
usually secured by governments. 

chaeges of "fkaud." 

I know, Mr. Chairman, we have had a great 

outcry about immense frauds; but if all be 
true as asserted, they bear a very feeble rela- 
tion to the entire operations, and they are, and 
have been, most grossly exaggerated. The 
gentleman from Indiana declaims as loudly ou 
this subject as any one I have heard ; and yet 
he points out very little. I will enumerate hia 
specifications. 

He complains of the purchase of stores in 
New York by Alex. Cummings, and says that 
a " larffe sum was lost." I doubt whether in 
the worst view, $5,000 were lost by Govern- 
ment in that affair, and not a cent by the 
fraud of any one. A few inferior articles 
were bought, which are not serviceable, but 
this is perfectly consistent with the integrity 
of the parties, as the investigating committee 
say, and is d^e to the haste with which, under 
pressure of peril to the Capitol, the commis- 
sions were executed. 

He next- complains of General Cameron's 
contracts for guns, all of which a commission, 
composed of Hon. Joseph Holt of Kentucky, 
David Davis of Illinois, and Hon. R. Dale 
Owen of Indiana, have revised. An abstract 
of their report has been given to the public. 
iVot a zvord goes to dhow that the Government 
has lost a ce7it by them. 

He next complains of General Fremont's 
extravagance, by which he says $550,000 
were spent in the erection .of forts at St. 
Louis, the building of a pontoon bridge at 
Paducah, the construction of railroad cars, 
the purchase of forage, and the like. Most 
of tnese were legitimate objects of expendi- 
ture. It is not stated what proportion of 
the whole sum was wasted, for we have only 
general allegations, which are usually safe, 
besides being convenient. It is certain, the 
charge carries less thun it appears. 

His last specification is the connection of 
Geo.D. Morgan with the purchase of vessels for 
the navy, in which his commissions reached 
$70,000. 1 disapproved of the act of the 
Secretary in employing a civilian on such 
duty, at that time, and with that form of com- 



6 



pensntion, and I voteJ for the resolution of 
ccu<iire on that proumi. 1 ilo not know tlmt 
excessive prices were piiid for the vessels. nmJ 
I believe that the purchases were more fairly 
find honestly niude than were those under 
Buchanan for the I'arapuay expedition. 

These are the only items on which the 
mountain of declamation is based. Analyzed, 
they sink to insignificance. To be sure, he 
quotes vnguo opinions and rivsh tiecliirations 
from two or three Senators and Representa- 
tives ; but they are worth noihiiifj, are not 
based upon evidence, and represent nothinp 
but the excited fancies of their authors. 1 
wish it understood that the fustian of the 
gentleman from Indiana about the corruption 
of the Administration re.«ts on a few petty 
items, all occurring near the outbreak of the 
rebellion, and in a period of alarm and ex- 
citement such as has never been witnessed in 
this country ; that not one of them has been 
clearly proved fraudulent; and that all of 
them can be explained as, for the most part, 
occurring through the error, inexperience, or 
ignorance of new employes or agents. What 
else could be expected, under the tremendous 
pressure of the great events whicii transpired 
in April, Muy, and the early summer of 1801, 
■when the very life of the nation was in ia- 
Ptant peril, and the most prodigious efforts 
were put forth to save it? Whoever expects 
the accuracy, method, and security of ordi- 
nary transactions amid such scenes and in 
the presence of such daii;j;er.s, is either fear- 
fully ignorant of practical affiiirs, orunreason- 
ingly exacting. Whatever frauds arp now 
attempted, the Administration and its friends 
•will use every ellort lo prevent OBCorrect, and 
they will do .ill in their power to punish the 
fraudulent, iudill'oreiit whether the blows fall 
upon friends or foes. Upon this, all good 
men arc united. 

PHKUICTIONS OF FUTtRB ASSU.\L KXPEXDITUKE. 

Here ends thn chapter of fact, as painted 
by the gentleman from Indiana; leaving 
which, he disports with even greater fresh- 
ness in the domains ol fancy. We have seen 
}iow disguising an<i distorting have been his 
versiouH of past events. How much richer 
and rosier are his fervid ipventious, we will 
Hce hereafter. 

Having shown how largo the debt is and 
will be, lie proceeds to narrate what sums the 
people will nunualh/ pay, making it up iu four 
grand iienis; 
Jiit<Ti'<it on publl'- il-M, (which hteooiitdeni 

"a very loir ••mtniHt.i") $100,000,000 

Ordlniiry fxin-ncm uf <iuTfrnairnt 160,000,000 

I'oniiioriN, (wliirh, hu MT«, "no woll-ln- 

furnusl per«<iri will protcoil will bo Imd" 

thnii) 100.000,000 

MiirKlu f"r clnlriin, couUngeDt eipADioa, &c. .Vi,0OO,otK) 

arand total $4oo,000,000 

Of course this is fabulous and preposterous. 
The gcntleuiaQ from iMnssaobutietlB (Mr. 



[ Dawks) has shown its utter groundlessness. 
I The estimite of interest is thrice as large as 
, it will be, if the debt be not swelled much 
i beyond present size. It is twice as large as 
I it will be, if the debt should reach one thou- 
I eand millions, for he calculates upon a much 
' higher rate of interest than Government is 
I paying or will pay, and a much larger debt 
I than it has or will have. As to his estimate 
I of ordinary expenses, it is one-third too high. 
I There is no reason why they should exceed 
I one hundred millions, upon the cessation of 
i hostilities. They are more likely to be less 
I than greater. His estimate for pensions 
, ($l(Hl.<tU(),0()0) is absurd beyond all compari- 
I son. He says he meant to include the bounty 
; of $100 to soldiers in it; but that is not 
I part of our annual payment, for Govern- 
ment does not propose to give the bounty 
more thau once. The gentleman from Massa- 
, chusetts allowed §24,000,000 for pensions 
per annum. The pension bureau estimate 
I the sum at ^G.OOO.OOO, and our pension com- 
mittee at $8,000,000, per annum. The gen- 
tleman from Indiana is sixteen times beyond 
I the one, and twelve beyond the other. 
j A margin of $50,000,000 per annum, for 
I claims, contingents, and unforeseen expenses, 
\ is five times what will be needed. 
I The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
1 Dawks) estimates the annual expenses, upon 
I the basis of present debt, at $:i01,()78,053. 
! Some of his figures are too liberal ; but this 
sutn will allow the creation of a considerable 
sinking fund to pay the debt. Yet his calcu- 
lations reduce tho.se of the gentleman from 
Indiana.///?// per cent..' At most, our expenses 
, will not be over one-half the estimate of the 
gentlemen on the other side.* Our tariff will 
yield an average of $jO, 000,000 per annum,* 
"thus further reducing the direct burthens of 
the people. Sir, I know that taxes are un- 
welcome, and tax-gatherers rarely received 
with pleasure. But when the people of the 
loyal States remember that this is the pur- 
chase-money for their freedom, the security 
of their property, the safety of themselves 
au'l families, and the preservation of the 
unity of this people and the vigor of this Gov- 
ernment; when they further remember that 
all these precious rights and interests have 
been put in jeopardy by a base and wicked 
band of conspirators, who have long plotted 
and labored, with infernal hate and supernal 
, skill ; that whilst plotting against the Gov- 
j eminent, they were, by the connivance of 
' deceitful I'residents and treacherous Secre- 
taries, actually filling its high offices ; that by 
these agencies they organized a most formid- 
able rebellion, having meanwhile strength- 
ened themselves to resist every form of attack, 
and weakened the power of the Government 
to protect itself and suppress them ; that, by 

•In llluntrntlon of thw ri>vcii<ie fniin this 80urce upon 
the r.TlviiI (if liiiKiiicK.s it iii«y be xtatpd that tho receipts 
from dutlM on Imports, iu May, were $0,222,406 68. 



herculean efforts, all these devices and pre- 
parations have been reduced to naught; and 
that, by the overwhelming: power of an aroused 
free people, their country has been saved — 
they will, disregarding the alarms ol' the 
timid, the predictions of the croaking, the 
machinations of the unworthy, and the blan- 
dishments of the ambitious, manfully meet all 
the responsibilities which these events may 
cast upon them. Not only will they, as good 
citizens, sustain their Government by the 
prompt payment of their taxes, but they will 
Buspioiously watch every man who suggests 
reasons why they should shirk their duties, 
avoid their obligations, and bring discredit on 
the nation. Sir, who anticipates the reverse 
result, knows nothing of the American char- 
acter. Let caucuses meet, addresses be writ- 
ten, speeches be made, and intrigues be begun 
and carried on. They will not avail to seduce 
our citizens from their fidelity. They will do 
no more than separate the true men from the 
false, and will knit the former into a firmer 
and more invincible phalanx. 

J HEAVY FKEIGHTS. 

I might stop here ; but the gentleman from 
Indiana makes other complaints which, though 
not 'germane, demand notice. One is, that 
"it costs sixty cents to freight a bushel of 
corn from the Wabash river to New York, and 
leaves from seven to fourteen cents to the far- 
mer" — a terrible extortion, which the Adminis- 
tration did not commit, and for the correction 
of which I respectfully refer the gentleman to 
his two distinguished political friends from 
New York, members of this House, who are 
believed to be closely connected with the 
management of railroads which compose part 
of the lino from the Wabash to New York. 
I do not know through what other hgency he 
will as speedily liberate his constituents from 
this oppression. 

THE MORRILL TARIFF. 

Respecting the other complaint, referring 
to the Morrill tariff, wherein he denounces it 
as interfering with his right to buy where he 
can buy cheapest, and as benefiting only the 
manufacturers of New England and the iron- 
mongers of Pennsylvania, I desire to ask him 
what would be the present condition of the 
country, if, carrying out his theory, turning 
ourselves into producers of raw materials, 
and opening our markets to unrestricted or 
scarcely restricted trade with the immense, 
concentrated, ever-aggrandizing capital ofj 
Eurooe, we had become, as we inevitably | 
would have become, as dependent upon 
Europe as the South has been upon the North 
— as little self-sustaining and self-reliant. — 
Would we have esca]fed insult, injury, inter- 
vention ? Let the gentleman consider the 
position of Mexico, and answer. 

What is so powerful a protection as power? 
Would the gentleman have his country safe ? 



Then must she be strong. How can she be 

strong without the exercise which comes from 
the development of all the elements of strength 
within her? The narrow theory of the gen- 
tleman looks not bejond to-day — anticipates 
not the contingencies which affect national 
existence, and provides not for them. It 
would provincialize his country ; repress 
ambition, invention, and progress; crush out 
every distinctive feature of the American 
character, paralyze energy, and fit us for the 
yoke which our masters, the capitalists of 
Europe, would quickly prepare for us. Call 
you this statesmanship? God forbid that an 
American legislature should ever so think, 

THE IRON INTEREST. 

Not only does the gentleman oppose this 
self-protecting and self-progressing system, 
but he flings especially at the *' iron-mongers 
of Pennsylvania." Sir, this is the very mad- 
ness of the moon. 

What is iron, that the gentleman reprobates 
the growth of its manufacture ? It is a na- 
tional necessity. Without it, we cannot defend 
our harbors from a foe, our commercial cities 
from bombardment, or our long sea-coast from 
ravages at every point. Without it, we can- 
not hold the forts upon which millions have 
been spent, or protect our commerce, whiten- 
ing every se^. Without it, this Capitol is in- 
secure, and untenable against easy attack. 
Without it, we cannot maintain our position 
among the Powers of the world, much less 
grow in influence and importance. It is as 
completely essential to national life, as is the 
bread we eat to our physical life. It is not 
enough that we have inexhaustible supplies of 
the ore, limestone, and coal. We must have 
the product in the highest form of manufacture 
— in the most advanced condition in which in- 
genuity and skill, mind and machinery, capi- 
tal and labor, have been able to place it. We 
cannot have these necessary conditions fulfilled 
unless the Government, by legislation, fosters 
and leads it up to the highest point required, 
at least, as generously, steadily, and appreci- 
atively as rival Governments have fostered 
and are fostering theirs. Had the theory of 
the gentleman from Indiana prevailed in for- 
mer years, when advocated with persistence, 
if not with wisdom, we would this day be at 
the mercy of our enemies. Containing within 
ourselves everything necessary to protect us 
from a world in arms, we would be in the hu- 
miliating position of inability to defend our 
institutions, assert our rights, and save the 
continent from being parceled out among the 
monarchs of Europe, or reduced to colonial 
subjection. Piccent events have betrayed the 
real feeling of Europe towards us. He who 
in the light of them, recommends a policy 
whose effect would be to place us in its 
gripe, carries his theories to the very verge of 
treason. For no truly patriotic person would 
have this country dependent upon Europe for 



8 

any essential of ilefenBC or any means of of- of our resources, I repudiate them, and call 
fense. upon the jieople to disown and trown upon 

both as iniuiical to their prosperity, inde- 
EFFKCTS OF THE UEBKLLiox. pcndenco, uud frcedoui. 



This rebellion, atrocious as it is, will bear 
many good fruits. One will be to forever dis- 
pose of those specious theories which have 
•weakened the Govtrnuicnt, and were the foun- 
dation on wliich Seceasion rests. Another, to 
explode those tal^e doctrines of political econ- 
omy, which, forfjettinj; the nature of man, and 
ijinoring the ambition of nations, the clashing 
of interests, the temptations of power, and the 
ftlluremonis of weakness, would regulate our 
legishitiou by delusive notions of the benefits 
of unrestricted trade among all nations, rather 
than by the safer standard of regard for our 
own interests, and self-protoction as well 
against the covert assaults of foreign trade as 
tlie open assaults of foreign enmity. 

Hecause the address of the caucus of (he un- 
happy fourteen, pnictically adopts the specious 
theories which are the life's breath of Secession, 
and places its signers upon the high road to 
deniitionaliztttion and disutuon, 1 reprobate 
them as enfeebling iind destroying, liecause 
the doctrines of the speeches of the gentle- 
n>an from Indiana would chain the country to 
European aristocracy and wealth, would keep 
it chained, and shut it out from 4he magnifi- 
cent destiny which awaits us, if we be true to 
ourselves, mindful of our powers, and careful , 



I'OSITION OF THE rEESIDEXT. 

Least of all will the attacks of these gen- 
tlemen impair the position of the President, 
whu, beginning his administration in the 
darkest and most troublous period of our his- 
tory, has overcome prejudices, won respect, 
ami secured admiration, at home and abroad, 
by unfaltering and single-minded devotion to 
duty. The cares of his great office have not 
confused him : its patronage has not corrupted 
him; its brilliancy has not dazzled him. 
Self-poised, he has steadily controlled the 
cur- . ,^ with fortitude bearing i-e- 

terscs, -A-Lii calmness enjoying successes, with 
manliness meeting all. Pure in heart, no one 
can assail his integrity, and the people love 
him. Great in mind, he grasps, in all its 
parts, the momentous present, and the people 
admire him. Brave in spirit, he advances to 
great deeds, and the people applaud him. 
Rarely are so great and fitting qualities com- 
bined. They who seek to uuderminef and 
overthrow him, will themselves be crushed. 
Kather let them cease their needless warfare, 
become useful instead of mischievous, patrio- 
tic instead of factious. 



SIcQlLL, Wirneeow & Co., Steam Book und Job PrluterH, 271 rcnnsylvauiii avenue. 



LIBRORY OF CONGRESS 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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pH8.5 

Mill Run F3-195 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

'""""I'll'llilll 




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012 028 053 3 



Hollinger 

pH8.5 

Mill Run F3-1 955 



